Another weekend of outstanding hockey on tap this weekend at the TD Garden in Boston, including the single best night in college hockey, the Hockey East semifinals on Friday. This preview was done for ESPNBoston.com.
Not the same old same old in Hockey East
BOSTON -- Despite all the talk of parity in Hockey East this year, the semifinal pairings for the TD Garden on Friday have a very familiar look, with Boston College, Boston University, and Maine securing a chance to battle for the Lamoriello Trophy. Even the fourth team, Vermont, reached the Frozen Four last year after a Hockey East title-game appearance in 2008.
But a closer look reveals it was not "business as usual" in the league this year. The No. 1 seed, New Hampshire, was knocked out by Vermont, which barely snuck into the playoffs as the eighth seed. The BU Terriers, the defending national champs, needed a gut-check second-half run to secure home ice in the playoffs, which they parlayed into a 2-1 series win over a tenacious Merrimack squad. Maine's Black Bears -- picked eighth in the league's preseason polls -- endured a litany of injuries to gamely finish fourth in Hockey East, edging out UMass Lowell both for home ice and in their quarterfinal matchup. Which got us thinking that maybe all that parity chatter wasn't so farfetched after all.
Here's a look at Friday's two semifinal match-ups:
No. 2 Boston College (23-10-3) vs. No. 8 Vermont (17-13-7), 5 p.m.
Don't expect a high-scoring affair in Friday's opener. Vermont, after surrendering seven goals to a high-powered UNH squad last Friday, tightened up behind the stellar goaltending of Rob Madore to pitch back-to-back shutouts against the Wildcats. Boston College, having allowed the fewest goals in league play, similarly put the clamps on a skilled UMass squad, whitewashing the Minutemen in the third period of their series-clinching 5-2 win last Saturday. Translation? Goals will be at a premium.
Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon acknowledged that the road won't get any easier for his Catamounts. "BC's got such a great blend of having tremendous talent and the ability to score goals, but I also think they have a great ability to play team defense," Sneddon said. "They use their speed in a very good way on back pressure, they're very good on transition and their layers of defense are very solid."
In their two-game sweep of UMass, the Eagles displayed lightning-strike capabilities (11 goals in two games) and a lock-down defense when necessary (no goals in the last 19 minutes of Game 1, and none in the third period of Game 2), offsetting some glaring mental lapses. This season, the Eagles lost two of three against Vermont, but the teams haven't met since Nov. 15, prompting both coaches to discount those results.
"We have a pretty good understanding of how Vermont plays," BC's Jerry York said. "Kevin has been there a couple years now, and he is not changing or suddenly putting a different type of product on the ice. He's been pretty consistent over the years. We are going to play a team that has a strong goaltender in Madore and big, hard-nosed defensemen, maybe the biggest in the league. It's difficult for us to play [those types of] teams and get a lot of Grade-A chances against them."
Likewise, Sneddon said the early-season matches meant little now. "They were obviously a completely different team back then," he said. "I remember saying how good I thought they were going to become, with all their young freshman defensemen that obviously were top-end players but needed to gain experience in big games. Obviously they've achieved that going into the second half. They're extremely talented at all positions now, so the youth is not hurting them in any way, shape or form."
While relishing Vermont's role as underdog, Sneddon admitted he's wary of BC's myriad weapons, including the white-hot sophomore Cam Atkinson and junior snipers Joe Whitney and Brian Gibbons. "They have moments where they can open it up and make you look foolish because of their skills and their ability to finish, and then there's other moments when they know to shut it down and play tight team defense," he said.
York was still undecided earlier this week which of his two superb netminders, junior John Muse or freshman Parker Milner, would start. However, Vermont's Madore is a lock, despite a stinging critique by Sneddon after the 7-4 debacle against UNH on Friday. "We had every chance to win that game, but unfortunately some goals went in that just aren't typical for him," Vermont's coach said.
"Rob's probably the most mentally tough student-athlete we have on our team, so as much as it was about trying to spark Rob, it was to spark our team to play better defensively in front of him, and I think the team kind of rallied around him," Sneddon said. "The bottom line is he did the job to turn things around."
Both teams are also looking to upperclassmen to provide a leadership role in Friday's tilt. Last year, Vermont rallied from a quarterfinal loss in the Hockey East playoffs to make a run to the Frozen Four. For BC, redemption is a key theme, after the Eagles followed their 2008 national title campaign with a 2008-09 season that ended in the Hockey East semifinals.
"Our senior class has had a remarkable record in the month of March," York said. "They were 21-3-2 in their four years. They feel good about themselves and they want to make a good run here [in Boston]."
So don't blink. The first mistake could prove costly in this match, and the first goal could be the game-winner.
No. 3 Boston University (18-16-3) vs. No. 4 Maine (18-16-3), 8 p.m.
Both the Terriers and the Black Bears are battle-tested, but it's been a war of attrition. The Terriers took a pounding in their quarterfinal series against Merrimack, and while they gave as well as they got, the list of wounded is a long one. The key injury could be freshman D-man Max Nicastro, who needed 26 stitches to repair a severed artery in his right forearm Saturday. His status is day-to-day. Defensemen Colby Cohen and David Warsofsky are banged up, and Maine is also dealing with injuries to key players such as Jeff Dimmen and Mike Banwell on defense, and forwards Kyle Solomon and Brett Carriere. Further, Maine will continue to soldier on without the services of No. 1 netminder Scott Darling, who remains on indefinite suspension.
However, coach Tim Whitehead can take some solace in the outstanding performance submitted by senior David Wilson in the nets. "I am really proud of David. He has persevered, not just this season, but during his career here," Whitehead said. "He really rose up for our team when we needed him most this weekend in a very pressurized situation. He seemed to get stronger each night."
The Black Bears also got a huge series from sophomore defenseman Will O'Neill (two goals and an assist in Sunday's 3-2 OT win over Lowell) and junior captain Tanner House (an insurance tally Saturday and a series-clinching OT strike Sunday). "A big part of us taking a step this year has been Tanner's leadership, along with the other juniors and seniors. They have really re-established the culture that we want in our Maine Black Bear teams," Whitehead said. "Tanner was key not just in regard to the goals, but he also won some big faceoffs and played well defensively, just all-around gritty, hard-nosed hockey."
Maine will need that grit against a physical Terriers team unafraid to take penalties, though they take too many for their coach's liking. "We have taken a number of stupid penalties all year long," BU coach Jack Parker said. "It has not been a disciplined team."
Fortunately for the Terriers their best penalty killer, sophomore goaltender Kieran Millan, appears to have rediscovered the form that brought BU a national crown last year. Though Millan was quick to credit his team after the Merrimack series, Parker singled out the play of his netminder. "Special teams wound up being the catalyst for us," Parker said. "Kieran held the Merrimack power play to 1-for-18, and they were the third-best power play in the nation."
If there was one weakness Merrimack exposed, it was BU's trouble with a quick-strike counterattack. The Terriers defensive corps, led by captain Kevin Shattenkirk and senior Eric Gryba, will have to contain a group of talented forwards, including House and sophomore sensations Gustav Nyquist and Brian Flynn. "I expect a hard-fought, well-executed game from Maine. They can skate, they've got one of the best first lines in college hockey, they have the best power play in college hockey [clicking at almost 28 percent] and they have great goaltending," said Parker, noting that the loss of Darling isn't devastating. "Wilson played once against us and he was great [34 saves in a 2-2 tie at Maine, Feb. 14, 2009]. I'm not surprised that he stepped up and became the man for them in a crucial series."
Though it's been a season of maddening ups and downs for the Terriers, Parker said he doesn't expect a letdown after BU's quarterfinal victory. "If we have a no-show type of game, our season is over," he said. "I know we have enough competitors and leadership to make sure that we are focused and ready." Whitehead, meanwhile, wants to make sure his Black Bears aren't simply happy to be in Boston for the first time since 2006. "It is a very good step for us, a very important step in our climb back up to where we want to be," he said. "This is a tough match-up for us. They're a strong team, and we respect them. We know what we're up against."
Brion O'Connor is a Boston-based freelance writer.
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